Research Roundup is a monthly newsletter from N of One’s UK-based science writer, Paul Whiteley, PhD. Each month we summarize a few research papers on a variety of topics in one simple, easy-to-read paragraph. It’s our hope that by skimming these each month, you will broaden your knowledge topics currently being explored by researchers and perhaps find information helpful in your journey of navigating a complex autism landscape.
Folinic acid for autism? Biomarker guided intervention says probably.
US clinician researchers from Arizona, USA recently added to an area of increasing autism research interest focused on the intersection between autoimmunity (where the body’s own immune system attacks the body) and folate metabolism, and how biomarker guided intervention for this complex biological pathway may yield important results. Based on analyses for folate receptor alpha autoantibodies (FRAAs) and soluble folate binding proteins (sFBPs), researchers were able to implement specific intervention in the form of folinic acid (leucovorin) to their patient group diagnosed with ASD. They reported that in their cohort of over 100 participants, data on specific binding FRAAs was particularly useful for biomarker guided intervention. Further, use of folinic acid improved certain autistic traits as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), aligning with previous controlled trials of this medicine. With the requirement for further study, this area of work shows some promise.
Full-text: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/14/1/62
Artificial Intelligence (AI) screening for autism from eye photographs.
Analysis of retinal photographs, pictures showing the intricate parts of the eye, by deep ensembles - a form of artificial intelligence (AI) - were perfectly able to distinguish ASD from not-ASD according to recent research out of the Republic of Korea. Researchers served up eye pictures for analysis from over 450 participants diagnosed with autism and a similar number of non-autistic controls, dividing them into training and test sets. When all the data was crunched, it showed that the AI models were able to diagnose autism perfectly in line with standardized diagnostic opinions. They also reported that measuring symptom severity might, with some further work, also be possible from such analyses. This is a potentially massive leap into the development of an objective diagnostic system for autism. As AI moves forward with ever-increasing complexity, accuracy and indeed, drawing on other independent parameters, one can envisage earlier diagnosis of autism and potentially, new ideas for intervention.
[Note from J. Rodakis: Fascinating. Will be interesting to see if this holds up over time]
Autism in Scottish primary school pupils: 2.6% in 2022
Recent research out of Edinburgh, Scotland adds to the huge amount of data detailing a continuous rise in the numbers of children being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Looking at Scottish primary school pupil census data covering 2018 and 2022, authors found a rate of 2.6% of autism among children aged 4 1⁄2-11 1⁄2 years old in 2022. Further, compared with the rate in 2018, the 2022 data detailed an over 30% increase in cases over that 5-year period. Important too, authors highlight how over 50% of children diagnosed with autism were receiving level 3 school support; a banding that indicates “heightened support needs”, thus providing some information on how autism was manifesting in the cohort. Also reported was a wider number of children who presented with ‘neurodevelopmental differences’ aside from autism numbering around 15% in 2022 and also showing a 10% increase from the 2018 statistics. What we can conclude from this collected data, alongside other data sources from within the United Kingdom (UK) such as that from Northern Ireland, is that the rise of autism continues unabated and, combined with rising levels of other neurodevelopmental conditions, are further stretching already finite educational and ancillary services.
[Note from J. Rodakis: One of the justifications commonly offered for why ASD prevalences are rising, is that the label is capturing kids who in the past might not have met the criteria. The rise in this study, of those w/o ASD but with other neurodevelopmental differences, suggests there is more going on.]
‘Intestinal dysfunction’ is over-represented in childhood autism (if you needed reminding) and might link to behavior too.
Data on over a thousand autistic children aged between 2-7 years old and resident in China has revealed that gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly constipation, are more frequently present than in non-autistic children. Some 40% of autistic children were found to present with constipation (via questionnaire screening) compared with 25% of non-autistic controls. That figure accords with other independent findings on GI issues affecting children with autism. Further, the presence of bowel issues were also reported to correlate with greater and more severe autistic symptoms, suggesting a possible association between gut issues and behavior. Added to the voluminous literature on bowel problems affecting people with autism across the age- groups, such work yet again establishes a gut-brain connection and the need to both alleviate such gut issues and by doing so, potentially improve quality of life including this related to behavior.
Life expectancy and autism: autism plus intellectual disability in particular, can exert a devastating effect
Premature mortality or early death does affect a significant proportion of those diagnosed with autism, concluded a recent paper, based on UK medical data. Researchers included various groupings in their analysis of data from over 10 million people including those diagnosed with autism and those diagnosed with autism and an intellectual (learning) disability resident in the UK. Both groups - numbering in the thousands - showed a higher overall rate of early mortality in line with other independent research findings. Those with autism plus intellectual disability showed a notably higher rate of early mortality; with women in this grouping in particular, showing almost an average decade and half reduction in life expectancy. The study researchers caution that while their findings represent a call for more study (and action) on this important topic, previous sweeping statements that for example, autism confers a universal 16 year reduction in life expectancy are inaccurate and likely incorrect.
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